Violence in Schools: Cross-National and Cross-Cultural Perspectives

During the 1940s, teachers were certain they had some grievous complaints about students’ behavior in school. Among these were excessive noise, littering, and gum chewing. More recently, teachers’ concerns have taken on a far more dire tone. Today, their focus is on the rape, robbery, and substance abuse incidents that occur in alarming numbers in their workplaces. In recent years, the news on violent crime in our schools has often been devastating. And although school officials have begun taking measures to decrease the level of violence on their grounds (e.g., installing metal detectors, hiring guards to patrol hallways), the violence that continues to occur is often more lethal and no less troubling. To further understand and ameliorate the causes of violence among our children—especially at school—this book takes a comprehensive approach to addressing the issues. Violence in Schools: Cross-National and Cross-Cultural Perspectives provides both a broad overview of violence in schools and offers specific descriptions of models that have been used successfully within school settings to prevent violent crime from occurring. For example, this volume: Recognizes that violence on school grounds is a global problem that requires an international perspective to counteract. Takes a broad view of what constitutes violence—that is, the focus is not only on physical assault, but the neglect and abusive behavior (e.g., racism, sexism, cultural discrimination and suppression) that contribute to its occurrence. Explores the history of the phenomenon of school violence in order to effectively ameliorate its current condition. Violence in Schools: Cross-National and Cross-Cultural Perspectives speaks with legitimate authority to scholars as well as to those on the frontlines in combating school violence, including school and counseling psychologists, schooladministrators, teachers and staff as well as concerned parents.